In the late 1980s Seed Savers Exchange received seeds from a Mrs. H.L. Jarrard of Oakwood, GA with very little information beyond the variety being in one family since the mid-1800s and it was called Whidley White. Chris Smith recently took up the cold case of trying to track down the family and some intense Googling led to him connecting with Joey Duran and his wife Tammy Duran. Joey is Mrs. H.L. Jarrard’s nephew and lives in the house where she grew up. Joey was able to fill in a lot of the family background, including the revelation that Whidley is highly likely the wrong name for this okra.

Mrs. H.L. Jarrard’s name was Vera Jarrard, married to Harvey Lou Jarrard. Vera Jarrard died in 2002. Vera’s brother (Joey Duran’s father) was Walter R. Duran (born 1931, married to Winnie Duran). Walter died in 1999 and his obituary notes, “Walter enjoyed working on his farm, growing a garden, riding on his tractor, wood working as well as tinkering with old trucks and clocks.” Walter’s mother, Ethel Whidby Duran, was born in 1892 married Jack C. Duran. Ethel’s father was Joseph W. Whidby (born 1856) and is the possible originator of this family heirloom (or perhaps his father….). So, this variety should almost certainly be called Whidby White and not Whidley White (we assume it was a typo, mis-hearing, or mis-reading of the original name).

We still don’t have a physical description of the okra, neither Joey nor Vera’s daughter (Melinda) have memories of a specific okra grown by their respective father/mother. However Walter Duran was a big time gardener and seed saver and Joey still has access to a freezer full of seeds that his father kept. In 2021 we are going to grow out some of those okra seeds and compare to our ‘Whidley/Whidby’ White.

We will be making and sharing educational videos and materials to support your okra growing and seed selection journey! By joining this project you are helping us with our Whidby White restoration, but we aim to help you become seed savers, selectors and stewards.